A neighborhood of Mrs. Glessners
06/24/2009
I have visited the first floor bedroom of Mrs. John “Frances” Glessner hundreds, if not thousands of times. As a docent at the famous 1887 landmark building at 18th and Prairie, it isn’t the décor of the room that inspires me. It’s Mrs. Glessner’s desk. Read more...
Don't act surprised
Daley agrees that tax payer cash could fund 2016
06/24/2009
The Daley Administration and its lackeys in the local Olympic organizing committee have repeatedly promised that no public money would be spent putting on a 2016 Olympiad here. Read more...
Reject Congress
06/24/2009
The Plan Commission rejected the Congress Hotel’s expansion proposal in January 2008, citing poor conditions at the landmark South Loop property. The real reason the commissioners denied the application was, of course, Unite-Here Local 1’s political - and moral - clout. The union has been on strike at the hotel since 2003. Read more...
Never a dull moment ...
06/17/2009
So much for the lull in the West Loop I wrote about last month. There was a shooting May 31, this time near the nightclubs at Lake and Sangamon. I watched with a clenched jaw as the evening news reporter told of a violent weekend in which ours was one of six shootings in 24 hours. Read more...
All assumptions are off
Local developments haven't worked out as imagined
06/17/2009
Chicago Journal’s front-page stories this week illustrate how the collapse of the housing market is reverberating. Bottom line: It’s not pretty. All the assumptions the city, developers, buyers and politicians made 10 years ago are dead right now. Read more...
Letters
06/10/2009
- Choose Pete’s
- Why Pete’s is best for Madison, Western
- For Food4Less
- Help everyone in Westhaven Park
- Kudos to PDNA
- Great column, Bonnie
- Angry about red-light ticket
- Kerr’s grand history
Vexatious
The toughest redevelopment downtown
06/10/2009
A longtime South Loop development observer once described the Old Main Post Office to us as a medieval fortress guarding the city. But the fortress is empty. Has been since 1995. And, depressingly, it appears the structure will remain that way for the foreseeable future. Read more...
Stung
More wasps than quarters finding their way into meters
06/03/2009
Wasp hives in parking meters. Perhaps the city and Chicago Parking Meters LLC, which leased the parking meter system for $1.15 billion late last year, could call this an environmental initiative. You know. To help the wasps. Read More...